What makes the Islay Festival so special?

The Islay Festival – or Fèis Ìle – is a whisky event like no other. Every May thousands of whisky fans flock to Scotland’s southernmost Hebridean island for a week filled with music and masterclasses, dancing and dining, and, of course, tasting Islay’s inimitable whiskies.

As the hotels and guesthouses fill up, and the island’s glorious beaches become adorned with tents and caravans, Islay’s distilleries prepare to welcome fans eager to celebrate with a few drams. On offer at each distillery is a packed schedule of masterclasses featuring exclusive whiskies, a rousing line-up of live music, distillery tours and, for the more adventurous, ambles across Islay’s countryside, rockpool exploring or RIB boat trips along the coastline. One even features its own amusing game of ‘guess the weight of the giant lobster’.

But aside from the extra-curricular entertainment, cultural and geographic activities, the one thing that brings the whole island together for an entire week is a shared love of Islay whisky.

This year Scotchwhisky.com visited the island with a film crew to uncover what makes the Islay Festival such an unmissable event for whisky fans.